


The Burns On My Tongue

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, haters can fight me in the back alley of denny's at 3 am sharp, im literally only writing this out of spite, no weapons no respawn we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 08:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10681623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He can't get himself to say it. He just...can't.





	The Burns On My Tongue

**Author's Note:**

> to antis: fight me scrublord

Keith hated hiding secrets.

 

His entire life felt like it'd been one big secret, a secret others were keeping from him. Mysteries and empty gaps in his memory pissed him off more than anything else. He was used to hiding his frustration and acting out his anger, even though that always got him in trouble. But he'd much rather be noticed than be a ghost that nobody paid any attention to.

 

With nothing to tie him down - no home, no family, no friends - the young man felt like he'd slip away, one step from disappearing off the map, and being forgotten. If he interacted with the world, made a scene, affected others, he wouldn't be. 

 

Which was why he threw a fit when Shiro went missing.

 

Which was why he busted up Iverson's office for the truth.

 

Which was why he HAD to solve the energy readings once he was kicked out and moved back to the shack.

 

Which was why he was so tied to figuring out who he was through Voltron.

 

But Shiro?

 

Shiro gave him an identity. Where normally Keith felt like a shadow, a faint image tied to nothing that could fade away in seconds, Shiro made him feel real. Shiro grounded him, and gave him solidity. Shiro's attention, and concern, made him feel solid, like he wasn't alone. 

 

He loved him. He loved Shiro, in a way that "romantically" didn't describe. Shiro gave him a will to live, a feeling of belonging, an anchor. A purpose. And he could never hope to show his gratitude or pay the elder man back for all he'd done. 

 

Keith wanted, so badly, to voice that he cared for him. Keith wanted to know if Shiro felt as real with him, as Keith did with the other. He wanted to make this connection stronger, and hold onto it with all his might. It was all he had left, all he ever fought for. And the idea of it being severed...this bond evaporating and leaving him to fall into obscurity, petrified him.

 

And that was why he couldn't risk telling Shiro. Because he couldn't risk losing him, if Shiro didn't feel the same. He wanted to AVOID pushing the other away. And as tight as he wanted to hold on, he knew if he held too tight, he'd lose him. If something happened to Shiro, his life would be over.

 

Shiro was everything...

 

And while Keith's tongue burned to say those words, to tell his friend "I love you," to confess his devotion...

 

He couldn't do it. Losing him was too much of a risk. 

 

"You're like a brother to me," was as close as he'd ever let himself come to saying it.

 

But god how his tongue burned to say those three little words...

 

But he couldn't. He simply couldn't.


End file.
